Only a few days ago, the online gaming company and online casino software developer, Microgaming, announced that it was going to stop providing its service in 13^th states inside the U.S. Last week, the company also announced the implementation of a new rule in where residents of any states bordering Kentucky are needed to send proof of residence to keep their accounts from being blocked. Unfortunately, it seems that things are getting tighter for U.S players and now, several gaming companies and online casino affiliates associated with Microgaming have extended the banning from 13 states to the whole American Union.  

Refer Back, Brightshare Lounge, Playshare Partners, Fortune Affiliates and Vegas Affiliates are some of the groups that have started sending e-mails to all their affiliates informing them about their decision to pull out of the U.S Market starting on Monday, November 10^th, 2008. According to the notification sent by the online casino affiliate groups, no new U.S players will be accepted beginning on the date they’ve established on the e-mail (Apparently the measure will be effective on November 10^th in all of them) while all existing players residing in the U.S will be allowed to play normally until further notice. Speculations about the reasons behind this decision have started flourishing in most online gaming forums and news sites, many players and affiliates believe that Kentucky’s gaming domain witch hunt is predisposing the gaming industry to stay away from trouble and that means leave the U.S market, however, the reason cited by several of these affiliate groups and online gaming operators is revealing more than that.

“Recent experience has seen the U.S becoming less and less profitable as market conditions have become ever tighter, to the point that continued activity in the USA has become decidedly unattractive to ReferBack. We will continue to work with affiliates resident in the US, focused on non-US acquisitions. At the same time, ReferBack has seen very substantial growth in other markets around the world, and is therefore able to assist affiliates wanting to re-focus or extend their marketing efforts beyond the U.S”.

The list of online casinos affected by this decision includes River Belle Casino, Lucky Nugget Casino, Jackpot City Casino, Gaming Club Casino (All from Refer Back), Wild Jack Casino, Wild Jack Poker, All Slots Casino, All Jackpot Casino and First Web Casino (Brighshare Lounge), Poker Share, Casino Share and Grand Mondial Casino (PlayShare Partners), 7 Sultans Casino, Desert Dollar Casino, Platinum Play Casino, Vegas Palms Casino, Vegas Towers Casino, Vegas Villa Casino, Poker Time, Royal Vegas Poker (Fortune Affiliates) and Vegas Affiliates’, Colloseum Casino, Grand Hotel Casino, Vegas Slot Casino, Vegas Country Casino, Vegas Joker Casino and Vegas 7 Casino.

For information on other online casinos currently accepting U.S players, please click here.